Khalil Talke didn’t lose his life, but he did lose his livelihood when he was attacked while driving his taxi on Valentine’s Day.

Khalil Talke says he's been forced to return his cab licence to the city because he can't work.

By:Curtis RushStaff Reporter, Published on Fri Mar 04 2011

Khalil Talke didn’t lose his life, but he did lose his livelihood when he was attacked while driving his taxi on Valentine’s Day.

Talke had to turn in his Ambassador taxi licence while he languishes in hospital recovering. But if he had a Standard licence, he would be able to make some income by renting his taxi out to other drivers.

Now, the city of Toronto has pledged to do what it can to prevent other cabbies from being unable to work.

The chairman of the city’s licensing and standards committee, Cesar Palacio, has pledged to review the two-tiered system because the way it works now is “problematic.”

“I have nothing. Zero,” Talke, 57, a native of Eritrea told the Toronto Star Friday from his hospital bed where he is still recuperating from extensive stab wounds to his face, throat and arm. His tongue was almost severed in the assault.

Talke, a father of four, was attacked just after 8 p.m. on Feb. 14 after he picked up a fare at the Downsview subway station. A man directed him to the Yonge St. and Sheppard Ave. W. area. The fare then attacked Talke from behind before fleeing into the night. A passerby called police.

Talke is thankful to be alive, but distraught that, as an Ambassador taxi licence holder, city bylaws mandate that drivers too sick or injured to work must turn in their licences (they get them back when they recover).

In that way, Talke feels like he has been victimized twice: once by the attacker and now by the city.

“It’s the law. What am I to do?” he said.

As an independent taxi cab owner, Talke is not entitled to coverage under the Workplace Safety Insurance Board and he has no private insurance.

However, there is hope, even if it’s not immediate.

“I want to come up with a compromise solution,” Palacio said. “This attack (on Talke) was outrageous. My heart goes out to him and his family.”

The two-tiered system is currently at the centre of a human rights complaint. Toronto cab driver Asafo Addai launched a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal in 2006 and long-delayed hearings are set to resume in June. He and his taxi workers’ association believe that the licensing practice discriminates against minorities and newcomers, most of whom are Ambassador licence holders. Standard licences were last issued in the 1990s.

Talke said he’s looking for Mayor Rob Ford to step up. He and other taxi industry officials say Ford made a pre-election vow to introduce a one-tier taxi system.

“Rob Ford is my councillor,” Talke said. “He’s a person of his word. He has a chance to clear up things. We’ve got to fight back.”